Free to Have a Career --And a Conscience

by Nathan J. Diament

A Jewish appliance repair worker, a Catholic racetrack clerk, a
Mennonite trucker and a Muslim hotel worker: What do these
people have in common? They've all been discriminated against on the job
because of their religion. They have not been fired
because of their beliefs; they've been fired or forced to quit because
they take their beliefs seriously enough to translate them
into action.

The Jewish repairman applied for a job with Sears. Although he scored
high on the Sears qualification exam, he was refused
employment because of his inability to work on Saturday, the day Sears
claimed was its busiest for repair work. As revealed in
the recently announced half-million-dollar settlement between Sears and
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer,
Sears's busiest day for repairmen is Tuesday, and the company needed to
do a better job on religious accommodation.

Kathy Pielich, the racetrack worker, was startled to learn that her
employer had chosen to open for business on Christmas; she
was even more surprised when he refused to allow her willing co-workers
to swap days with her so she could observe
Christmas, and she lost her job.

Ed Pipkin told Maryland-based Bowman Trucking in his job interview that
he would not be available to drive on the Sunday
Sabbath, and he was hired with that understanding. When the company was
busy and needed more drivers on Sundays, Pipkin
effectively was informed that he was to drive and violate his Sabbath or
find work elsewhere.

Hanem Zahwy is a devout Muslim who wears a head scarf. She applied to
work at a new hotel in Virginia but was refused
employment as a front desk clerk because of the head scarf.

America is indeed a land where religious freedom is bountiful--at least
until it runs into other powerful interests championed by
our society, such as unfettered market capitalism or rampant liberal
secularism. Devotees of each of these respective
philosophies are blocking our attempts to remedy this situation through
the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, a measure
introduced in the House this year.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was once understood to require employers to
reasonably accommodate the religious needs of
their employees. In recent years, however, courts have interpreted the
law so narrowly that there is almost no protection for the
religious needs of employees. The new act would reinstate employers'
obligations to attempt to accommodate religious needs.
Worried about anything that might affect their bottom line, organized
businesses are opposing the legislation.

In a similar fashion, labor unions, which are happy to press for
increased protections for workers' secular needs--family and
medical leave, etc.--have expressed "concern" about the act's provisions
designed to ameliorate any obstacles to employers'
accommodating an employee's religious needs (such as waiving overtime
wages for flex hours worked to gain a religious day
off). Thus, even though this bill would benefit rank-and-file workers,
we've received little help from big labor in moving it
forward.

But there is hope. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act is one of those
rare public-policy ventures that, because it really
would do the right thing for America's values and interests, unites more
people than it divides. The coalition of religious
communities supporting this effort includes the American Jewish
Committee, the National Council of Churches, the Southern
Baptist Convention, the Family Research Council and the Orthodox Union.
Moreover, it has bipartisan support in both the
Senate and the House.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act is a vehicle by which Congress can
demonstrate that its frequent tributes to religion are
not mere rhetoric but evidence of the abiding values that America's laws
must promote and protect. The act will ensure that no
American will be forced to choose between conscience and career.

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The writer is Director of the Institute for Public Affairs of the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.